NESRGB board available now

The place for all discussion on gaming hardware
Spacemonkey
Posts: 129
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:09 am

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Spacemonkey »

kuze wrote:
Skips wrote:What model is the PVM and are you using composite sync, composite video for sync, Luma for sync, or PPUV for sync?
It's a PVM-1910 and I'm using composite video for sync. I've been told to get a video cable wired for csync and hook up CS#, so I'm going to give that a try.

In the meantime it looks glorious on the Framemeister so I'll just use that for now.
My PVM -1910 has no problem with composite video as sync, so I doubt that will fix the problem.
kuze
Posts: 102
Joined: Mon May 06, 2013 4:03 am
Location: USA

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by kuze »

Spacemonkey wrote:My PVM -1910 has no problem with composite video as sync, so I doubt that will fix the problem.
Hmm, thanks for chiming in.

Edit: So to test it out with my existing cable, I just moved the wire over from composite video out on the NESRGB board to CS# and it works perfectly now. I guess my PVM-1910 is more picky than yours.
Skips
Posts: 404
Joined: Tue Oct 22, 2013 3:03 am

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Skips »

That or hes using a different port for RGB than you. On those really old PVM's typically if you use the BNC connectors its going to want composite sync. HOWEVER if you use the 25 pin port they don't seem to care what you feed them. A couple PVM-1271q monitors I have had in the past were like that.
I am no longer taking free or paid modding projects, please do not contact me asking for my services. Thanks :).
Spacemonkey
Posts: 129
Joined: Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:09 am

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Spacemonkey »

Skips wrote:That or hes using a different port for RGB than you. On those really old PVM's typically if you use the BNC connectors its going to want composite sync. HOWEVER if you use the 25 pin port they don't seem to care what you feed them. A couple PVM-1271q monitors I have had in the past were like that.
I remember using both BNC and the 25 pin port. But this was years ago.

I pulled my PVM-1910 out of storage. I tried a NESRGB modded AV Famicom on the 25 pin connector and it works great. With sync wired from the system or composite video.

On the BNC jacks I could not get it to work properly with either sync or composite video, unless I set the sync terminator off. I thought it might work with the TTL sync jumper open on the NESRGB but that would not work either.
However on a SNES with the same cables either sync or composite video worked fine on the BNC sync input with the terminator on. (I do not have anything connected to the BNC sync out so I should have the terminator set to on)

I guess that's why I remember everything working on the BNC jacks. I didn't have a a NESRGB unit back then, I stopped using that monitor years ago.
Visor
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2016 7:57 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Visor »

Hello all,

I have a NESRGB (hardware version 1.3) board that I’m trying to get working with my front loader NTSC NES (CPU revision 10). My mother-in-law has done all the soldering work, as she soldered professionally for many years. We are trying to get connections working for both S-Video and Component (no need for RGB). However, whenever we hook up the NES to my 32” CRT Sony Wega, we see nothing but a blank/black screen on both connections. For the component connection, the screen “flashes” for a brief moment before going to black. The S-Video connection always remains black. When the NES is turned on with a game inserted, the power light shows a steady red, so we have power to the console and there are no issues with the lockout chip.

My mother-in-law has done her due diligence and followed the instructions, wiring diagram, and other schematics to a ‘T’ to ensure all her soldering was done correctly. She has checked every trace between the NESRGB board, PPU, CPU, Voltage Regulator, Component mini-board, and NES motherboard. FYI, in order for the Component and S-Video to share the “Y” connection on the NESRGB, she soldered the component wire to the metal strip and soldered the S-video wire into the hole beside the strip. See the pics below for a wiring overview.

She also hooked up the audio connection from the NESRGB board, but we're not hearing any audio from it for some reason. She tried connecting the "Audio A/B" pins to CPU pins 1 & 2, and when that didn't work she moved the connections to the resistors, as suggested by another poster here. Incidentally, the old audio connection from the mono RCA output on the NES motherboard has stopped working as well.

After a couple of days’ worth of troubleshooting, resoldering, etc., we have decided our next step will be to remove the PPU from the NESRGB and place it back on the NES motherboard. We hope to identify if the issue resides with the PPU or the NESRGB.

Does anyone have any other suggestions before we move the PPU back to the NES motherboard?

Cheers,
Visor

Image
Image
Image
Ripthorn
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:36 pm
Location: Hellhole

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Ripthorn »

Hey guys, the 1.4 NES RGB board has two csync options, TTL and CS75, which option should I select?
I would like to use the same type of CSYNC that has on SNES and previews NES RGB boards revisions.
Visor wrote:Hello all,

I have a NESRGB (hardware version 1.3) board that I’m trying to get working with my front loader NTSC NES (CPU revision 10). My mother-in-law has done all the soldering work, as she soldered professionally for many years. We are trying to get connections working for both S-Video and Component (no need for RGB). However, whenever we hook up the NES to my 32” CRT Sony Wega, we see nothing but a blank/black screen on both connections. For the component connection, the screen “flashes” for a brief moment before going to black. The S-Video connection always remains black. When the NES is turned on with a game inserted, the power light shows a steady red, so we have power to the console and there are no issues with the lockout chip.

My mother-in-law has done her due diligence and followed the instructions, wiring diagram, and other schematics to a ‘T’ to ensure all her soldering was done correctly. She has checked every trace between the NESRGB board, PPU, CPU, Voltage Regulator, Component mini-board, and NES motherboard. FYI, in order for the Component and S-Video to share the “Y” connection on the NESRGB, she soldered the component wire to the metal strip and soldered the S-video wire into the hole beside the strip. See the pics below for a wiring overview.

She also hooked up the audio connection from the NESRGB board, but we're not hearing any audio from it for some reason. She tried connecting the "Audio A/B" pins to CPU pins 1 & 2, and when that didn't work she moved the connections to the resistors, as suggested by another poster here. Incidentally, the old audio connection from the mono RCA output on the NES motherboard has stopped working as well.

After a couple of days’ worth of troubleshooting, resoldering, etc., we have decided our next step will be to remove the PPU from the NESRGB and place it back on the NES motherboard. We hope to identify if the issue resides with the PPU or the NESRGB.

Does anyone have any other suggestions before we move the PPU back to the NES motherboard?

Cheers,
Visor

http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/RedVi ... sort=3&o=0
http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/RedVi ... sort=3&o=2
http://s1074.photobucket.com/user/RedVi ... sort=3&o=1
Not sure how I can help you but I installed both S-Video and Video Component on my NES RGB.
Since both share the Y pin and I asked a question to Tim:
Both S-Video and Component uses the Y pin, can I put two wires in the Y pin
or I have to choose between Svideo and Video Component?
and he replied:
The Y signal is the same in both cases. You may connect it to both places, but not display on two TV sets at once.
If my bad english is right, you can not connect both outputs on TV at the same time. Perhaps you've done this and something went wrong, but not sure if it's possible.
I forgot to ask what happens if you connect the two outputs at the same time. :oops:
Video Component works fine here, but I never had the chance to try S-video.
User avatar
RGB32E
Posts: 1400
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:50 am

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by RGB32E »

Ripthorn wrote:Hey guys, the 1.4 NES RGB board has two csync options, TTL and CS75, which option should I select?
Unless you're feeding the RGB output to a VGA or Extron switch, use CS75.
Ripthorn wrote:If my bad English is right, you can not connect both outputs on TV at the same time. Perhaps you've done this and something went wrong, but not sure if it's possible.
I forgot to ask what happens if you connect the two outputs at the same time. :oops:
Video Component works fine here, but I never had the chance to try S-video.
It will double terminate the luma signal - each input has a 75 ohm resistor to ground. Not sure if it would damage anything, but may cause an issue with the video encoder. Perhaps Tim can release an updated NESRGB-Component PCB that buffers the Y signal so it can drive two inputs. One could use a THS7314 to resolve this as it can drive two 75 ohm loads. However, you'd have to add a voltage divider as it has 6db gain.

Image
User avatar
darcagn
Posts: 607
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:26 pm
Contact:

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by darcagn »

Visor wrote:Hello all,

I have a NESRGB (hardware version 1.3) board that I’m trying to get working with my front loader NTSC NES (CPU revision 10). My mother-in-law has done all the soldering work, as she soldered professionally for many years. We are trying to get connections working for both S-Video and Component (no need for RGB). However, whenever we hook up the NES to my 32” CRT Sony Wega, we see nothing but a blank/black screen on both connections. For the component connection, the screen “flashes” for a brief moment before going to black. The S-Video connection always remains black. When the NES is turned on with a game inserted, the power light shows a steady red, so we have power to the console and there are no issues with the lockout chip.

My mother-in-law has done her due diligence and followed the instructions, wiring diagram, and other schematics to a ‘T’ to ensure all her soldering was done correctly. She has checked every trace between the NESRGB board, PPU, CPU, Voltage Regulator, Component mini-board, and NES motherboard. FYI, in order for the Component and S-Video to share the “Y” connection on the NESRGB, she soldered the component wire to the metal strip and soldered the S-video wire into the hole beside the strip. See the pics below for a wiring overview.

She also hooked up the audio connection from the NESRGB board, but we're not hearing any audio from it for some reason. She tried connecting the "Audio A/B" pins to CPU pins 1 & 2, and when that didn't work she moved the connections to the resistors, as suggested by another poster here. Incidentally, the old audio connection from the mono RCA output on the NES motherboard has stopped working as well.

After a couple of days’ worth of troubleshooting, resoldering, etc., we have decided our next step will be to remove the PPU from the NESRGB and place it back on the NES motherboard. We hope to identify if the issue resides with the PPU or the NESRGB.

Does anyone have any other suggestions before we move the PPU back to the NES motherboard?

What happens if you turn the palette switch for NESRGB completely off, and use the stock composite output?

Regardless, it sounds like you need to move the PPU back and make sure it still works. If the NES's stock audio output isn't giving you any audio, it sounds like the PPU is either not connected properly, is fried, or traces/pads were damaged during desoldering.
intrepidbreak
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:36 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by intrepidbreak »

So I've got an interesting issue. I recently purchased the "8 Bit Music Power" cartridge album and got it in today:
http://riki2riki.com/html/0_sample_8bit.html

My setup:
  • US Toploader
    Pin 51 in system to NESRGB audio (expansion, with a resistor)
    Famicom->NES adapter w/expansion audio wired (sourced from Excitebike cart)
I can play my copy of Akumajō Densetsu (Famicom) without any problems, expansion audio sounds great. Everything seems to be working perfectly. All other NES games work just fine, no issues to speak of. I can leave them running for long periods of time without a problem.

However, if I play the "8 Bit Music Power" cart for more than a few minutes, the game will usually crash. At that point, any attempt to start the game again causes the graphics to glitch out pretty dramatically.

Does anyone else own this cart and an nesrgb-modded Famicom or NES? I need to test this on my vanilla systems (toploader+frontloader) to see how it performs but wanted to see if anyone else was having the same problem with this cart and a system with a nesrgb installed.

Edit: The cart seems to run perfectly (running for the last hour) on a non-modded toploader, so it looks like it's not the cart. I'm not using the separate voltage regulator (I have J3 shorted per the install docs, see image). Could this be the problem?

Here's a photo of my install: http://i.imgur.com/21ofSsq.jpg

edit: cart internals http://imgur.com/a/F2WMH/all
Last edited by intrepidbreak on Wed Feb 17, 2016 4:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
leonk
Posts: 1080
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2011 9:29 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by leonk »

The extra voltage regulator is now only shipped with front loader kits. Top loader / famicom AV kits don't get it.

I doubt that famicom cart uses that much power, nowhere near as much as a powerpak or everdrive N8 will. Maybe it found an NESRGB bug. Contact Tim.
User avatar
FBX
Posts: 2347
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:18 am
Location: DFW area, Texas
Contact:

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

It might be a top-loader kit issue. I'm using a front-loader NESRGB, and I did the resistor mod to get the emulated extra channels from the Everdrive N8 in order to play the Japanese version. No issues with the game at all. Unfortunately the Everdrive N8's emulation of FDS sound is pathetic, so I still can't enjoy most of those games.
leonk
Posts: 1080
Joined: Sun Mar 13, 2011 9:29 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by leonk »

FBX wrote:It might be a top-loader kit issue. I'm using a front-loader NESRGB, and I did the resistor mod to get the emulated extra channels from the Everdrive N8 in order to play the Japanese version. No issues with the game at all. Unfortunately the Everdrive N8's emulation of FDS sound is pathetic, so I still can't enjoy most of those games.
Isn't there an option in the EverDrive to change the volume of the EXP audio? I don't own an everdrive, and my powerpak is having issues. All my famicom carts with exp audio (e.g. Lagrange Point, Mr Gimmick, etc) play perfectly fine on my NES top loader NESRGB.
User avatar
FBX
Posts: 2347
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:18 am
Location: DFW area, Texas
Contact:

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

leonk wrote:
FBX wrote:It might be a top-loader kit issue. I'm using a front-loader NESRGB, and I did the resistor mod to get the emulated extra channels from the Everdrive N8 in order to play the Japanese version. No issues with the game at all. Unfortunately the Everdrive N8's emulation of FDS sound is pathetic, so I still can't enjoy most of those games.
Isn't there an option in the EverDrive to change the volume of the EXP audio? I don't own an everdrive, and my powerpak is having issues. All my famicom carts with exp audio (e.g. Lagrange Point, Mr Gimmick, etc) play perfectly fine on my NES top loader NESRGB.
There's a Hi and Low option. Mine is set to Low and I did the resistor based on it. Unfortunately it's a known issue that Everdrive sucks at FDS audio.
User avatar
bobrocks95
Posts: 3461
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:27 am
Location: Kentucky

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by bobrocks95 »

It sounds like an emulation issue, not a volume issue... Sound emulation was a difficult issue for quite a while (or maybe companies just didn't care)- see every Gamecube-era emulation collection's tinny, inaccurate sound.
PS1 Disc-Based Game ID BIOS patch for MemCard Pro and SD2PSX automatic VMC switching.
viletim
Posts: 550
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:44 am
Location: Sydney, Australia
Contact:

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by viletim »

Visor wrote: She also hooked up the audio connection from the NESRGB board, but we're not hearing any audio from it for some reason. She tried connecting the "Audio A/B" pins to CPU pins 1 & 2, and when that didn't work she moved the connections to the resistors, as suggested by another poster here. Incidentally, the old audio connection from the mono RCA output on the NES motherboard has stopped working as well.

After a couple of days’ worth of troubleshooting, resoldering, etc., we have decided our next step will be to remove the PPU from the NESRGB and place it back on the NES motherboard. We hope to identify if the issue resides with the PPU or the NESRGB.

Does anyone have any other suggestions before we move the PPU back to the NES motherboard?
No audio means the NES is not running at all.

If you have not attempted remove the PPU from the NESRGB, I would first recommend you try soldering the top side of the PPU socket on the motherboard. If you are not careful when removing the PPU it is possible to damage the plated connections on the motherboard. If this is the case, soldering both top and bottom sides of the socket will fix it. Even if there's nothing wrong it's easy enough to do.

Image

Removing the a PPU which has been soldered to the NESRGB is difficult and should only be done as a last resort. The NESRGB board may be damaged in the process if you aren't careful.


intrepidbreak wrote: I can play my copy of Akumajō Densetsu (Famicom) without any problems, expansion audio sounds great. Everything seems to be working perfectly. All other NES games work just fine, no issues to speak of. I can leave them running for long periods of time without a problem.

However, if I play the "8 Bit Music Power" cart for more than a few minutes, the game will usually crash. At that point, any attempt to start the game again causes the graphics to glitch out pretty dramatically.

edit: cart internals http://imgur.com/a/F2WMH/all
It's the fault of the cartridge. It seems to be a Famicom pirate cart (999 in 1 kind of thing) with replacement ROMs. The part number for the graphics ROM chip is visible - MX29LV160DTTI-70G. It's a 3.3V part which should not be used in a 5V system (such as the NES/Famicom). That's why your cartridge overheats and stops working after a few minutes. Maybe these pirate carts are designed for Famiclones which are different to a normal Famicom internally?
intrepidbreak
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:36 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by intrepidbreak »

viletim wrote:It's the fault of the cartridge. It seems to be a Famicom pirate cart (999 in 1 kind of thing) with replacement ROMs. The part number for the graphics ROM chip is visible - MX29LV160DTTI-70G. It's a 3.3V part which should not be used in a 5V system (such as the NES/Famicom). That's why your cartridge overheats and stops working after a few minutes. Maybe these pirate carts are designed for Famiclones which are different to a normal Famicom internally?
That certainly makes sense, but it's strange to me that it works perfectly on an unmodded US toploader.
User avatar
RGB32E
Posts: 1400
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:50 am

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by RGB32E »

intrepidbreak wrote:
viletim wrote:It's the fault of the cartridge. It seems to be a Famicom pirate cart (999 in 1 kind of thing) with replacement ROMs. The part number for the graphics ROM chip is visible - MX29LV160DTTI-70G. It's a 3.3V part which should not be used in a 5V system (such as the NES/Famicom). That's why your cartridge overheats and stops working after a few minutes. Maybe these pirate carts are designed for Famiclones which are different to a normal Famicom internally?
That certainly makes sense, but it's strange to me that it works perfectly on an unmodded US toploader.
My 8BMP cart works just fine with my NESRGB modded AV Famicom and I've run it for >1hr periods of time without it crashing. I'm using the NESRGB regulator as well. You mentioned US systems, so I'm wondering which cart adapter you're using?

Image

I don't recall if I updated the FW past 1.4 on this NESRGB or not. It's one of the second batch kits with the bad sync separator circuit, so I use PPUV for sync. :evil: I've found that the NESRGB does not clean up the CPU audio on the AV Famicom like it does on the US systems, so I don't bother with the circuit.
Ripthorn
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:36 pm
Location: Hellhole

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Ripthorn »

RGB32E wrote:
Ripthorn wrote:Hey guys, the 1.4 NES RGB board has two csync options, TTL and CS75, which option should I select?
Unless you're feeding the RGB output to a VGA or Extron switch, use CS75.
Ripthorn wrote:If my bad English is right, you can not connect both outputs on TV at the same time. Perhaps you've done this and something went wrong, but not sure if it's possible.
I forgot to ask what happens if you connect the two outputs at the same time. :oops:
Video Component works fine here, but I never had the chance to try S-video.
It will double terminate the luma signal - each input has a 75 ohm resistor to ground. Not sure if it would damage anything, but may cause an issue with the video encoder. Perhaps Tim can release an updated NESRGB-Component PCB that buffers the Y signal so it can drive two inputs. One could use a THS7314 to resolve this as it can drive two 75 ohm loads. However, you'd have to add a voltage divider as it has 6db gain.
Thanks for the infos. The plan (not mine :mrgreen:) is to use on a shitty SCART to HDMI converter.
intrepidbreak
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:36 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by intrepidbreak »

RGB32E wrote:I'm using the NESRGB regulator as well. You mentioned US systems, so I'm wondering which cart adapter you're using?
Interesting! Is the NESRGB regulator included or required in the Famicom AV kits? My toploader kit didn't include one, and oddly enough I've seen pictures of US toploaders with and without the voltage regulator installed. (This is really confusing..which is correct?) The documentation says it's not required for the NES2/FAV.

I'm using an NES-JOINT-01 from an Excitebike cart. It's got a wire running from pin 46 (60-pins FC side) and pin 51 (72-pins NES side). From what I understand, pin 54 doesn't exist on toploader units. See here: http://imgur.com/a/kT171

On the system side, I have a wire running from pin 51 (EXP9) to a resistor, and then to the little hole next to J5 on the NESRGB (you can see this here: http://i.imgur.com/mGKZMuU.jpg ).

My modded system works perfectly fine with all of my US games (obv) and Akumajō Densetsu works with expansion audio. It chugs along without a problem.

It would be nice to figure out why the 8BMP cart works fine on a non-modded US toploader system.

Thanks everyone.. please let me know if you can think of anything I'm doing (or not doing) that might shed light on things.
User avatar
RGB32E
Posts: 1400
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:50 am

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by RGB32E »

intrepidbreak wrote:Interesting! Is the NESRGB regulator included or required in the Famicom AV kits? My toploader kit didn't include one, and oddly enough I've seen pictures of US toploaders with and without the voltage regulator installed. (This is really confusing..which is correct?) The documentation says it's not required for the NES2/FAV.
That's correct, it's only included with front loader kits due to thermal limitations of the stock 7805 heat sink. Tim has included them by request when ordering kits for non-front loaders.
intrepidbreak wrote:My modded system works perfectly fine with all of my US games (obv) and Akumajō Densetsu works with expansion audio. It chugs along without a problem.
8BMP doesn't use expansion audio, so I don't think that's an issue. If you're able to use the cart on a stock top loader with the same adapter, I'd compare the PCB rev to your NESRGB top loader and see if they are the same. You could also add the extra regulator to power the NESRGB and see if that makes a difference. Or, you could move the NESRGB to the stock top loader and see if the issue persists.

Image
Visor
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2016 7:57 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Visor »

Ripthorn wrote:Not sure how I can help you but I installed both S-Video and Video Component on my NES RGB.
Since both share the Y pin and I asked a question to Tim:
Both S-Video and Component uses the Y pin, can I put two wires in the Y pin
or I have to choose between Svideo and Video Component?
and he replied:
The Y signal is the same in both cases. You may connect it to both places, but not display on two TV sets at once.
If my bad english is right, you can not connect both outputs on TV at the same time. Perhaps you've done this and something went wrong, but not sure if it's possible.
I forgot to ask what happens if you connect the two outputs at the same time. :oops:
Video Component works fine here, but I never had the chance to try S-video.
I think Tim meant that I can't, for example, hook up the S-Video to my CRT and the Component to my HDTV at the same time. Even in the case of hooking both the S-Video and Component to the same TV at the same time, I don't ever recall doing that, so I don't think that's the issue.
darcagn wrote:What happens if you turn the palette switch for NESRGB completely off, and use the stock composite output?

Regardless, it sounds like you need to move the PPU back and make sure it still works. If the NES's stock audio output isn't giving you any audio, it sounds like the PPU is either not connected properly, is fried, or traces/pads were damaged during desoldering.
Adjusting the palette switch didn't do anything to fix the situation. My mother-in-law ended up removing the PPU from the RGB board (more on that below).
viletim wrote: No audio means the NES is not running at all.

If you have not attempted remove the PPU from the NESRGB, I would first recommend you try soldering the top side of the PPU socket on the motherboard. If you are not careful when removing the PPU it is possible to damage the plated connections on the motherboard. If this is the case, soldering both top and bottom sides of the socket will fix it. Even if there's nothing wrong it's easy enough to do.

Removing the a PPU which has been soldered to the NESRGB is difficult and should only be done as a last resort. The NESRGB board may be damaged in the process if you aren't careful.
Tell me about it. It took my mother-in-law a couple of days to get the chip off the NESRGB board. I think that she had to pick up some ultra-thin desoldering wire to get it done. If we get things working again then I think the first step would be to install a socket onto the NESRGB board itself in order to make swapping much easier (assuming I can find a socket like this locally?)

At any rate, she got the PPU out and put it back on the NES motherboard (with the installed socket still in place, but not soldered on the top side of the board yet). Things still didn't work, so it appears that the issue resides with either the socket, PPU or the NES motherboard. She checked all the connections and found a couple of possibilities... First, it appears that pins 18 & 19 may have shorted, unless they act that way by design. Second, there might be an issue with the capacitors that you recommended we bend over in order to allow room for the NESRGB board. Since the capacitor's stems were so short, she had to extend them on one of the caps in order for it to bend over safely. The other cap looks like it could be blown out, although when she checked the connections for both, they appeared to be okay. Nevertheless, she will go shopping for a new set of Caps either today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, I will suggest to her soldering the top side of the PPU socket. I don't believe she damaged any of the plated connections but I guess you never know.

I'll provide another update soon...

Visor
intrepidbreak
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:36 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by intrepidbreak »

viletim wrote: It's the fault of the cartridge. It seems to be a Famicom pirate cart (999 in 1 kind of thing) with replacement ROMs. The part number for the graphics ROM chip is visible - MX29LV160DTTI-70G. It's a 3.3V part which should not be used in a 5V system (such as the NES/Famicom). That's why your cartridge overheats and stops working after a few minutes. Maybe these pirate carts are designed for Famiclones which are different to a normal Famicom internally?
It looks like you're right. I found a number of japanese tweets about the issue and a confirmed fix. Sorry to bother you with this and thanks for your time!

http://i.imgur.com/BCMGI06.png
http://i.imgur.com/gjmJueb.png

https://twitter.com/zzr40092/status/695218455855796224

edit:

Looks like the twitter finds I posted earlier were the fix. The cart is running stable now on my NESRGB US toploader.

Keep in mind you have to cut the trace and expose both sides in order to solder the resistor to each side. I ended up using a 68pF cap rather than 100pF.

http://i.imgur.com/m6tDVC7.jpg

Running stable now.
Ripthorn
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 8:36 pm
Location: Hellhole

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Ripthorn »

Well, I think I just blow my AV Famicom :(

Most of the times I get white screen, as if there were no cartridge, sometimes I get pinky/red/green screen and other times the game boots but freezes after few seconds.

Does anyone know what could be the problem?
intrepidbreak
Posts: 16
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 2:36 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by intrepidbreak »

I've got a Famicom AV on order, and was reading through the AV install instructions - is there any reason not to simply wire the output from the NESRGB (and audio, obviously) into an 8-pin mini-DIN?

I have a GC PAL SCART cable and a SCART->xRGB passive adapter that I can use, but I like the idea of using the same mini-din cable on both my US toploader and this new system better.

Suggestions, thoughts?
eightbitminiboss
Posts: 450
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:01 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by eightbitminiboss »

intrepidbreak wrote:I've got a Famicom AV on order, and was reading through the AV install instructions - is there any reason not to simply wire the output from the NESRGB (and audio, obviously) into an 8-pin mini-DIN?

I have a GC PAL SCART cable and a SCART->xRGB passive adapter that I can use, but I like the idea of using the same mini-din cable on both my US toploader and this new system better.

Suggestions, thoughts?
Doesn't make much sense to me to drill a hole when there's a perfectly good port right there and SCART cables for it are not hard to come by. You can use the Mini-DIN if you want.
User avatar
darcagn
Posts: 607
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:26 pm
Contact:

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by darcagn »

Yeah, there's no technical reason you can't do what you want... but I can't understand why you'd want to drill a hole in a coveted model of a classic console, when there's already a port right there that performs all the functionality you need?
User avatar
Voultar
Posts: 550
Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:29 pm
Location: USA

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Voultar »

Why in the name of Jesus Alverado would you molest such a coveted system that already has a competent A/V connector onboard???
User avatar
Guspaz
Posts: 3136
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 7:37 pm
Location: Montréal, Canada

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Guspaz »

multi-av RGB cables are cheap, why would you ruin the console when it already has a multi-av port built right in...
kcsims
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 8:16 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by kcsims »

I want to get a av famicom system with the nesrgb installed, but I have a couple questions before I go down that road.

I saw many comments about out the av fami does not mix audio properly on expansion audio games and FDS. I have read through this topic, but did not see if there was a definite fix or not. Are there any solutions available?

If not, what is the next best option for ensuring that games like CV3 and the FDS work properly?

My main reason for wanting to go with the av fami is to be able to use my FDS, but if the audio doesn't mix properly I would rather go another route.

Advice / comments?

Please excuse if this was covered and just point me to the post where this would be covered as I missed it while trying to search.

Thanks!
Asbrandt
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:09 pm

Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Asbrandt »

kcsims wrote:I want to get a av famicom system with the nesrgb installed, but I have a couple questions before I go down that road.

I saw many comments about out the av fami does not mix audio properly on expansion audio games and FDS. I have read through this topic, but did not see if there was a definite fix or not. Are there any solutions available?
With extremely late original-Famicoms and all AV-Famicoms, Nintendo changed the IC they were using as a buffer for the audio and while it works fine for non-expansion-audio cartridges, expansion audio cartridges seem to interact poorly with this modified circuit and adversely affect the main system audio levels. The NESRGB has it's own audio amp you can use instead, refer to this post:

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 5#p1115605

However, do not add C2, as it will pull down cartridge audio as I discovered, simply placing the switch in the "cartridges" position for cartridges regardless of expansion audio seems to be sufficient in preventing the wire from becoming an antenna for noise.
Otherwise the configuration is pretty solid, although I find expansion audio to be slightly too loud on both cartridges and Everdrive compared to some reference recordings, I've been meaning to try using a 43k instead of a 39k, but I have not got around to doing so.
Post Reply